The first of a four-part systems simulation webinar series was very successful! Michelle Thornton from Berea College in Kentucky shared how she uses the Systems Thinking, Systems Changing™ simulation with her college students. She shared stories about how effective the simulation is when teaching pre-service educators how to navigate or even lead change in school settings.
Michelle shared, “I really like using it [Systems Thinking, Systems Changing™] with my Foundations class because it gets them [pre-service educators] to start thinking more holistically and outside the world they think they’re going to be in. It helps them see how the people on the game board need to be invested in the change and see the reason why change is needed.”
Jessie Coffey from the Nebraska Department of Education discussed both her experience playing the game, once at a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded-partner meeting and another time in Nebraska among state coordinators and the importance of change management when implementing school health programs. Jessie shared, “The value of living the experience [of the game] is to see what effective systems change is about and how to think about it at a local level. They [the participants] see the value of networking and experience what network analysis is. The game echoes- who are your leaders? What [change] steps do they need to be involved in to help be part of educational change?”
Both presenters did a great job sharing how two completely different audiences- pre-service teachers at the university level, and local education agency staff (district staff) had exceptional experiences with the simulation to provide professional development that is both meaningful and applicable.
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